Attachment of rich content to a unified message left as a voicemail

1. A computer-implemented method of operation for a Unified Messaging System (UMS) that handles a variety of communications media, which includes voice, text messages, and compute-readable documents, as objects in a single mailbox that a recipient can access with an endpoint device, the method comprising: storing, in the UMS, a voicemail message in the single mailbox of the recipient, the voicemail message being left by a sender; prompting the sender for attachments via an email message after storing the voicemail message; electronically receiving, at the UMS, one or more attachments from the sender in a reply email sent by the sender to the UMS; storing, in the single mailbox, the one or more attachments as content associated with the voicemail message; and upon accessing, the single mailbox, providing the voicemail message and the one or more attachments to the recipient.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising asking, via an interactive voice response (IVR) system, whether the sender wants to attach any files to the voicemail message.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2 further comprising prompting the sender for an email address of the sender.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3 ; further comprising sending an email message to the email address of the sender, the email message including a request for attachments and the voicemail message.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein the one or more attachments comprise a Uniform Resource Locator.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein the one or more attachments comprise a text file.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim wherein the one or more attachments comprise a computer readable file.

8. The computer implemented method of claim 1 wherein the one or more attachments comprise a video media file.

9. A computer-implemented method comprising: storing a voicemail message in a single mailbox of a Unified Messaging System (UMS) that handles a variety of communications media, which includes voice text messages and computer-readable documents, as objects in a single mailbox that recipient can access with an endpoint device the voicemail message being left by a sender; sending an email message to the sender that prompts the sender for at least one attachment to the voicemail message; receiving a reply to the email message from the sender that contains one or more computer-readable attachments; storing the one or more computer-readable attachments in the single mailbox as content associated with the voicemail message; retrieving the voicemail message from the single mailbox for the recipient; and retrieving from the single mailbox the one or more cornpute-readable attachments for the recipient.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 9 further comprising, after the retrieving of the voicemail message, informing the recipient that the one or more computer-readable attachments are expected, but have yet to arrive from the sender.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 9 wherein the retrieving of the voicemail message occurs in response to the recipient accessing the single mailbox at a first point in time, and the retrieving of the one or more computer-readable attachments occurs in response to the recipient accessing the single mailbox at a second point in time later than the first point in time.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 9 wherein the email message includes the voicemail message.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 9 wherein the one or More computer-readable attachments comprise a Uniform Resource Locator.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 9 wherein the one or more computer-readable attachments comprise a text file.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 9 wherein the one or more computer-readable attachments comprise a video media file.

16. A non-transitory machine-readable memory encoded with instructions, which, when executed, cause a computer to: store a voicemail message in a single mailbox of a Unified Messaging System (UMS) that handles a variety of communications media, which includes voice, text messages, and computer-readable documents, as objects in a single mailbox that a recipient can access with an endpoint device, the voicemail message being left by a sender; send an email message that prompts the sender for at least one attachment to the voicemail message; receive a reply to the email message from the sender that contains one or more computer-readable attachments; store the one or more computer-readable attachments in the single mailbox as content associated with the voicemail message; retrieve the voicemail message from the single mailbox tor the recipient; and retrieve from the single mailbox the one or more computer-readable attachments for the recipient.

17. The non-transitory machine-readable memory of claim 16 wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the computer to inform, after the retrieving of the voicemail message, the recipient that the one or more compute-readable attachments are expected, but have yet to arrive from the sender.

18. The non-transitory machine-readable memory of claim 16 wherein the voicemail message is retrieved in response to the recipient accessing the single mailbox at a first point in time, and the one or more computer-readable attachments are retrieved in response to the recipient accessing the single mailbox at a second point in time later than the first point in time.

19. A system comprising: one or more network nodes running one or more application programs that implement a unified messaging system (UMS) that handles a variety of communications media, which includes voice text messages and computer-readable documents, as objects in a single mailbox that recipient can access with an endpoint device, the one of the nodes including: one or more processors; and a memory comprising one or more instructions executable at the processors, the one or more processors being operable, when executing the instructions, to: store a voicemail message in a the single mailbox of the recipient, the voicemail message being left by a sender; send an email message that prompts the sender for at least one attachment to the voicemail message; retrieve the voicemail message from the single mailbox for the recipient prior to receiving a reply from the sender to the email message; warn the recipient hat one or more computer-readable attachments have yet to be received as content attached to the voicemail message; receive the reply from the sender with the content that includes the one or more computer-readable attachments; store the one or more computer-readable attachments in the single mailbox; send a notification to the recipient that the content has been received; and retrieve from the single mailbox the one or more computer-readable attachments for the recipient.